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Re: How to gain control over the system?

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On Wed, Jul 12, 2017 at 08:30:12AM -0400, RavenLX wrote:

[...]

> To remove the root password so root can't log in again:
> 
> sudo passwd -l root

I've been following this back-and-forth for a while. Yes, I think it's
a good idea to use the root account as little as possible. Myself, I
use sudo in the overwhelming majority of cases.

But I learnt the hard way that sometimes it's a good idea to keep a
root account (with a corresponding password!) around.

When the system boots and the root file system is corrupt (or a
similar early-boot problem happens), you find yourself staring at
a message more or less looking like that:

  Please enter your root password to start a rescue shell:

(message is from memory, but you get the -uh- message).

This was shortly after Debian convinced me that having a root password
is The Evil Itself.

Duh.

I'm wiser now.

(Yah, there is a workaround for that: a rescue disk, and that's how
I got myself out of that, but hey).

Of course: no remote login as root (sshd_config). Use sudo in normal
life (it's more comfortable, anyway). All that. Use a hard-to-guess
root password (pwgen -n 16, for me).

But. A root password doesn't make your system more insecure (unless
it opens up one more remote access). And sometimes, just sometimes
you wish you had one :-)

Cheers
- -- t
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Thread

How to gain control over the system? Kaj Persson <70147persson@telia.com> - 2017-07-09 00:10 +0200
  Re: How to gain control over the system? Oflameo <oflameo2@gmail.com> - 2017-07-09 00:30 +0200
    Re: How to gain control over the system? Fungi4All <fungilife@protonmail.com> - 2017-07-09 01:00 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? Anders Andersson <pipatron@gmail.com> - 2017-07-09 11:30 +0200
        Re: How to gain control over the system? Dejan Jocic <jodejka@gmail.com> - 2017-07-09 12:00 +0200
  Re: How to gain control over the system? davidson@freevolt.org - 2017-07-09 01:30 +0200
    Re: How to gain control over the system? Fungi4All <fungilife@protonmail.com> - 2017-07-09 12:10 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net> - 2017-07-09 13:50 +0200
  Re: How to gain control over the system? Kaj Persson <70147persson@telia.com> - 2017-07-09 15:10 +0200
    Re: How to gain control over the system? [a security-side-note] Eike Lantzsch <zp6cge@gmx.net> - 2017-07-09 16:00 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? [a security-side-note] Dejan Jocic <jodejka@gmail.com> - 2017-07-09 16:20 +0200
    Re: How to gain control over the system? Fungi4All <fungilife@protonmail.com> - 2017-07-09 19:00 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? Kaj Persson <70147persson@telia.com> - 2017-07-09 19:10 +0200
        Re: How to gain control over the system? Kaj Persson <70147persson@telia.com> - 2017-07-09 23:40 +0200
    Re: How to gain control over the system? Felix Miata <mrmazda@earthlink.net> - 2017-07-10 01:40 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? Kaj Persson <70147persson@telia.com> - 2017-07-11 22:40 +0200
        Re: How to gain control over the system? David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2017-07-11 23:00 +0200
          Re: How to gain control over the system? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2017-07-11 23:10 +0200
        Re: How to gain control over the system? Felix Miata <mrmazda@earthlink.net> - 2017-07-12 03:50 +0200
          Re: How to gain control over the system? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2017-07-12 14:30 +0200
          Re: How to gain control over the system? Kaj Persson <kape_fin@algonet.se> - 2017-07-13 12:30 +0200
            Re: How to gain control over the system? <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2017-07-13 13:20 +0200
              Re: How to gain control over the system? Fungi4All <fungilife@protonmail.com> - 2017-07-13 14:20 +0200
                Re: How to gain control over the system? <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2017-07-13 15:20 +0200
              Re: How to gain control over the system? tomas@tuxteam.de - 2017-07-13 15:20 +0200
                Re: How to gain control over the system? David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2017-07-13 16:30 +0200
  Re: How to gain control over the system? Jimmy Johnson <field.engineer@gmail.com> - 2017-07-09 22:30 +0200
    Re: How to gain control over the system? Kaj Persson <kape_fin@algonet.se> - 2017-07-10 00:40 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? Jimmy Johnson <field.engineer@gmail.com> - 2017-07-10 00:50 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? Joel Rees <joel.rees@gmail.com> - 2017-07-10 03:10 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? Dejan Jocic <jodejka@gmail.com> - 2017-07-10 10:00 +0200
      Re: How to gain control over the system? RavenLX <ravenlx@sitesplace.net> - 2017-07-12 14:40 +0200
        Re: How to gain control over the system? <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2017-07-12 15:30 +0200
          Re: How to gain control over the system? RavenLX <ravenlx@sitesplace.net> - 2017-07-16 15:50 +0200
            Re: How to gain control over the system? <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2017-07-16 16:50 +0200

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